Articles in the Sports News Category

JACK MADDEN talks to Shane Rice, the Scotstown fitness coach negotiating an exciting career path through the uncharted waters of the global pandemic A global pandemic-driven re-evaluation of life brought about many changes in people’s lifestyles. Unemployment was surging and schools were closed. We soon realised the only thing worse than no time was too much of it. Enclosed within the four walls of our own homes, doing the shopping became a weekly highlight. Soon the word “virtual” was virtually unavoidable. Online interaction, for all its faults, provided an escape hatch. ...

Colm Shalvey reports The return of non-contact sports training for children, along with a re-opening of golf (PICTURED) and tennis for all ages, are under consideration as part of the Government’s plans to ease Covid-19 restrictions next month. The Government’s plan for managing the virus, The Path Ahead, commits to cautiously beginning to ease restrictions in April. Golf Ireland last week released its fixture list for 2021, planning to adapt to the delays by starting the championship season no earlier than the end of May. Mark Wehrly, Director of Championships with ...

JACK MADDEN casts a cautionary eye on the multi-million euro funding deal for the Six Nations and finds a mismatch between financial and emotional investment… Money, money, money,/It’s a rich man’s game…. Two years on from the iconic Eurovision hit “Waterloo”, Swedish pop group ABBA released “Money, Money, Money”. A singalong that swept across Europe, something the ordinary man could relate to. A multilingual approach brought astronomical success. A Europe united, both politically and in song, just a few years on from both Ireland and the Uk’s entry into the European ...

The sadness but warmth of recollection current in the minds and hearts of the members of Rossmore Golf Club following the passing of their friend and club stalwart George Leonard is encapsulated in the following tribute from VINCENT GILHAWLEY… A stalwart of Rossmore -George Leonard remembered George Leonard was a man I was extremely honoured to call a staunch loyal friend ever since I first met him through golf at Rossmore Golf Club in the early 1980s. George was the quintessential loyal club member, the one who believed in totally ...

Athletics From temporarily setting aside Leaving Cert worries to going toe to toe with veteran Mark English to contesting a first senior European Championship, it has been a whirlwind month for Longford athlete Cian McPhillips (PICTURED), who has strong family connections in north Monaghan. Eyes in Co Monaghan, particularly in Scotstown, would have been fixed on RTÉ’s coverage of the European Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland, where 18-yearold McPhillips ran in the 800m. A composed run in his heat on Friday saw the Longford AC youngster breeze through the field in ...

Colm Shalvey reports Togoville’s record at the venue for owner Patrick McCann, trainer Anthony McCann and jockey Conor McGovern. Having made it a ‘lucky 13’ wins at Dundalk Stadium the previous week, 11-year-old Togoville added to that list by holding off nearest challengers Jered Maddox and Oh Purple Reign in the ‘Join Us On Instagram @dundalk_stadium’ Handicap last Friday. It made for another successful evening at Ireland’s only all-weather racecourse for trainer Anthony McCann of Shabra fame and Clones jockey Conor McGovern, who guided the 4/1 joint-favourite to a third win ...

To a mundy backing track, JACK MADDEN runs the rule over decisions taken at the 2021 GAA Congress and finds “some necessary, some strange and some in-between” … GAA Congress 2021. It is that time of year again. This time Larry McCarthy of Cork was announced as President of our 137-year-old association. His appointment coincided with the sudden appearance of experts nationwide, the commencement of debate from Derry to Kerry. Here we go again. The rolling stone of the GAA gathers no moss. For all its faults, 2020 gave us space ...

Monaghan Sports Partnership is launching an exciting new programme, starting Monday the 1st March. This is a FREE 6- week programme which is suitable for all ages and is ideal for complete beginners, and anyone who wishes to increase their walking fitness and progress to jogging with relative ease with the help of podcasts from an experienced coach. It is a simple progressive programme that begins with more walking than jogging, and gradually evolves into more jogging than walking over a 6-week period. Participants will receive two podcasts and session ...

If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it … JACK MADDEN makes a case for continuity when it comes to staging the Ulster Football Final at St Tiernach’s Park in Clones, the “living room”of the sport’s provincial spiritual home In my memory, I will always see, The town that I have loved so well As the late Luke Kelly brings the words of Phil Coulter to life, he is as much Derry as he is Dublin. Reminiscing on the good times, before the “tanks and guns”. Days when there was “music there ...

Colm Shalvey reports Chairman Declan Flanagan admits the extended delay to the return of Gaelic Games activity did not come as a surprise and that it provides further headaches to fixture planners for 2021 at club and county level. The GAA revealed last week that Government representatives have clarified that inter-county Gaelic Games activity is not covered under the current Level 5 exemptions for elite sports. This means that a return to intercounty training or games is not permitted under the current restrictions, with the GAA Covid Advisory Group outlining that ...